Jewel cabinet with watch

After a design by Antoine Watteau (French, Valenciennes 1684–1721 Nogent-sur-Marne)

Artist:

After a design by François Boucher (French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris)

Date:

probably ca. 1765–70

Culture:

British, London

Medium:

Case: agate, mounted in gilded copper and gilded brass and set with painted enamel on copper plaques, and fruitwood; Dial: white enamel

Dimensions:

Overall: 13 1/2 × 9 3/4 × 7 1/2 in. (34.3 × 24.8 × 19.1 cm)

Classification:

Horology

Credit Line:

Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964

Accession Number:

64.101.829

Not on view

This cabinet bears the signature of the London jeweler and entrepreneur James Cox. On its doors are enameled personifications of Winter and Summer after compositions of the Four Seasons by the British painter Robert Pyle (act. 1761–66). Additional scenes are based on engravings after François Boucher (1703–1770) and Jean-Antoine Watteau (1670–1733). With characteristic inventiveness, Cox included a hidden drawer above the more obvious drawers inside; a jeweled button on the back of the cabinet opens the secret drawer.